Stability of advanced photoresist systems for subquarter micrometer lithography during reactive ion etch processes

The deep ultraviolet (DUV) photoresist systems are essential for phololitho graphy to produce subquarter micrometer patterns in semiconductor fabricati ons. Such photoresist systems are not very stable when subjected to low ene rgy ion bombardment during reactive ion etching (RIE) processes. The surfac e morphology of a DW photoresist changes in a RIE process leading to microf issures and this produces poor quality serrated images. Factors such as mon omeric structure of the photoresist, postdevelop treatments, and plasma pro cessing conditions affecting the stability of photoresist systems are inves tigated. (C) 2001 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.